The workload of an IT manager has increased significantly with today's mobile technology and the mobility of employees, guests and other network users. Each network item demands individual attention from a network administrator to be configured, added to the network and provided with permissions.
With the explosion of new endpoint device technology and the ever increasing mobile user population, the need to understand who and what is connecting to a corporate network has become critical.
IT departments struggle to ensure that mission-critical network resources are both operational and secure, while allowing network access for endpoint devices, mobile devices, biomedical devices, security cameras, etc. IT departments are also responsible for ensuring that mobile users, employees, partners, guests and contractors do not misuse network resources, wrongly distribute intellectual property assets or otherwise violate usage policies. In addition, IT is ultimately responsible for making sure that network users can accomplish valid tasks with minimal interruptions. This requires IT to be able to dynamically identify, manage and secure a wider variety of devices and users on the network than was previously required.
Guest access has also become a crucial enabler of business on today's network. At the same time, the distinction between guests and employees has become more difficult to define. Guests might include customers or clients, business partners, outside vendors, contractors, and others—each with unique access requirements. The growing need for guest access has put yet another strain on an already over-tasked IT department, driving the need for IT to be able to automate and/or delegate the process of provisioning guest access.
Furthermore, organizational boundaries between business units are becoming less defined. Which department owns which resources? What employee belongs to what department? As organizational silos start to fade, the static silos of security policies become less effective and harder to maintain. Ideally, a security solution that will adapt along with the organization's changing needs is required.
What is needed is a network control system supporting network endpoints including devices and users that delegates control from the Administrator to Sponsors, leveraging their particular skills.